Good Neighbors

An interesting week last week. Apparently, someone felt the need to cut the fuel lines on my car. The question is, is it disgruntled people from work or disgruntled neighbors. I was warned when I arrived here not to do anything that would annoy the locals because they tended to be vengeful. Usually, this is good advice, but when your job includes evaluating people, and when your personality is such that you feel the need to call law enforcement when the local meth lab starts smelling up the neighborhood, it gets more difficult in practice. Of course, contacting law enforcement is not an option. I was also told when I arrived here, by a politically connected, white collar co-worker,  to watch my step, because anyone here could kill me anytime they wanted and no one would care, because I wasn't from here. I don't quite believe that of course. I think they were just trying to mark their territory and put me in my place. I have learned though, that if you have a law enforcement problem, you need to wait until it gets bad enough to report to the state officials. If you contact the locals, they just end up giving your contact info to the person you complained on and walking away. I was told that was how it worked here to, but again, proving it is a different matter.

Blue States should pay more in taxes than they get back

While waiting in line today, I got to hear an interesting rant from one of the great unwashed in line ahead of me. Seriously, I do mean unwashed. It looked like nothing associated with this gentleman had seen water for at least a week and you could almost see the fug hanging around him. The gist of the rant was about how Obamacare is unfair. This person had tried to buy Obamacare, but they wouldn't let him until he went back to Ohio and got a copy of his prison release records. Of course it wasn't his fault he was in prison. It was all due to the fact that the police and judges in Ohio just liked putting people in jail. By this time, I was feeling very sympathetic towards the police and judges of Ohio. Now, think how much the state of Ohio spent to keep this man in prison. Think how much the state and his neighbors would be paying if he were running free. Wouldn't it be nice if the people of Ohio could pay someone a modest fee to take him off their hands? Well, they can.

 I often hear the complaint from blue state people that they pay more in federal taxes than they get back and that the situation is reversed for the red states. This argument is often used to point out the hypocrisy of the red states when they complain about federal taxes. I'd like to point out to the blue states, that this situation is entirely fair, and in fact, they should be paying more.

What people from the blue states don't realize is that there is a sizable migration from their states to the red states. I'm not talking about the people who move to red states to get a better job. These people pay taxes and lessen the difference between the amount a state pays in federal taxes and the amount it receives. No, I'm talking about the people who tend to move to the rural areas of the red states.

Yes, some of them are moving for jobs, but frequently it is the chronically unemployed who are relocating to the rural red zones. Why are they moving? When you ask them, the reasons are usually two fold. First, since the standard of living is so much lower, they can afford a place of their own on what the government provides. Sure, it's just a 30 year old trailer on a rented lot, but it's better than public housing. Second, law enforcement tends to ignore a lot in Appalachia. Blue state people, are you seeing why you should pay more yet?

Don't look upon it as the red states taking more in taxes. Look upon it as a fee the red states charge to warehouse your  People of WalMart for you. I think they're getting off cheap. Personally, I wish they'd keep both the money and the people.